Figurative Language & Literary Devices

Metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things without using the words "like" or "as"

Simile

A comparison between two unlike things using the words "like" or "as"

Idiom

an expression that has a meaning different from the meaning of individual words

Hyperbole

A figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or for humorous effect.

Personification

giving of human qualities to an animal, object, or idea

Imagery

descriptive words and phrases that recreate sensory experiences for the reader. It usually appeals to one or more of the five senses --smell, touch, taste, sight, and hearing -- to help the reader imagine exactly what is being described.

Situational irony

a contrast between what a reader or character expects and what actually exists or happens

Dramatic irony

where the reader or viewer knows something that the character does not know.

Verbal Irony

when someone knowingly exaggerates or says one thing and means the other.

Allusion

A reference to a famous person, place, event, or work of literature.

Symbol

a person, place, object, or an activity that stands for something BEYOND itself.

Foreshadowing

occurs when a writer provides hints that suggest future events in a story

Flashback

an interruption of the action to present events that took place at an earlier time.

Pun

a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.

Alliteration

When the first letter of words have the same consonant letter, ie. tongue twisters

Onomatopoeia

A word that makes the sound it spells, BAM, WHACK